Pep Guardiola has criticised Burnley 's pitch after Manchester City won 2-0 at Turf Moor to move top of the Premier League table.
Liverpool briefly usurped the Citizens on Saturday afternoon following their 2-0 win at home to Watford, but the champions reclaimed top spot thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan. Post-match, Guardiola pointed out the "difficult" playing surface and sent a message to their title rivals.
"We're many years playing in these types of games. We scored early on so that helped us a lot. But the game is never finished until you score the third or fourth," the City boss told Premier League Productions. "The pitch was so difficult because the grass was high, no water and everything was so slow. But we did well and won the game.
"The next Premier League game we will play against Liverpool so we know they are going to win almost all the games - hopefully not the next one - but we will try to do the same. It's Atletico Madrid next, then Liverpool." Guardiola's key player in Lancashire was Raheem Sterling, grabbing two assists after a successful international break with England.
"When he comes back from the national team he is full of confidence. The numbers...and he is never injured, like Riyad Mahrez, so they play consistently," the Catalan coach added. "People say experience when you are old but it works when you get good lessons and you learn from them.
"What you have done in the past doesn't mean it will happen again. Every game will be like this. We need to play these games with this target and we will try. When you arrive in May challenging to lift the title it means you have had an incredible season.
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"Being here is because we work a lot and we have done that every single season. That is a lot of credit for the whole organisation. We will fight. The opponent is so tough and good but they said we will make a proper battle and we accept that."
Goalscorer Gundogan added: "It's always tough to come here against a tough and physical side. They have a certain type of playing, we needed to be prepared for long balls to their tall striker and it's about winning second balls and trying to create chances and scoring.
"Obviously the two goals in the first half helped us a lot. The next two to three weeks will be decisive but every game feels like a final now to be honest. That's why it was very important to win today. You can't drop points otherwise it will be punished."
